Soar With the Music
by A. O. Talmidge
Summary: Rob and the rest of the Ghostwriter team want to help a disabled violinist, who is not allowed to be in the school Orchestra due to a biased conductor.


**Chapter One:****  
****Two Mountains**

"Oy, new kid! Pass the ball over here!"

Rob heard the voice of one of his gym classmates right next to him, and looked to the student he had been calling to. Kanata Hino, a Japanese-American boy that had ended up his team, was recent student, having transferred to the school just a week ago. He seemed to be pretty decent at basketball, but then again, so were several people in the gym class.

There were plenty of things that Rob would rather do during a class period, including P.E., like it was right now, but at least he did not have to play basketball every day. He supposed that he liked it better than soccer. Also, it was better than what was coming up later- the pull-up bar. The gym teacher, Mr. Jean, was going to have each of them try it, even they were frightened. Several girls had moaned at that.

Rob watched as Kanata lobbed the basketball in a tall arc through the air. The brunette that had called out to him snagged the ball, dodged several girls and a red-headed boy and threw it ten feet into the basket nearby.

"Score!" one from Rob's team shouted, while other people nearby him frowned, including his friend Alex.

The ball was soon released from the side of the gym again, and the playing resumed. Alex's team made a few more baskets, including a three-pointer from a particularly good player.

Kanata had made another basket, when a shrill whistle blew.

A fair-haired student on Alex's team nearby groaned. "Ah, not already," he complained.

"Swap out!" the gym teacher shouted from where he stood from near the bleachers. "Hino, Baker, Novák, Rodriguez, Fredrick, and Rose, on the bench!"

Rob was glad that he was rotated out of the game for another student waiting to get back into the game. He followed the others to the bleachers while the gym teacher listed more names to take their places.

Rob plopped on the lowest bench next to Rayco Varas, slightly tired. He watched as the Hispanic boy spoke up to Kanata on Rayco's other side.

"I saw you playing. You're pretty good," Rayco commended the Japanese boy.

"Thanks," Kanata replied.

"Are you going to try out for school sport, or even as a reserve for the basketball team?" Rayco asked.

Kanata shook his head. "Nah, I'm not really interested in that," he responded amiably.

The Hispanic boy raised an eyebrow. "Why not?" he asked, looking slightly confused. "I think you're good enough."

"Not that good as the guy that got the three-pointer," Kanata replied, smiling a little.

They continued to talk some more until the next batch of kids were rotated in. Alex sat down nearby Rob, and someone else took Rayco's place.

Later, after Alex's team was ahead by several points, the coach blew the whistle to end of the game. Rob went to the right side of the bleachers to the small area near the boy's locker room with the rest of the class. Several girls groaned as they came in sight of the pull-up bar.

When his turn came, he was able to barely get four pull-ups. Rob happily let go of the bar and walked back toward the rest of the class. He was definitely glad that the teacher had said that the bar was not something that would be used a lot in the class.

The next student was the strongest of the class so far, and did fourteen in a row before they could not manage another one. There was a small smile on the teacher's face as the student went back with the class. More students tried, including Alex, who had gotten five pull-ups.

"All right, we'll all done here," the teacher called out after a while. "Time to change out."

Several students moved toward the direction of the locker rooms, but Rob stayed, a little confused. The teacher had said that they were done, yet Kanata had not had a turn.

Apparently some other students had noticed that the new student had been left out as well. "Hey, he hasn't gone yet," one brunette boy complained, pointing to Kanata.

Rob turned around to see the teacher merely shrug some. "Unlike you all, he's got an actual excuse," the gym teacher replied nonchalantly as headed around to the front of the bleachers.

"What?" the student replied, looking bewildered as he looked at Kanata. Several other students were staring as well.

"How come you can't do a pull up?" one asked him. "It's just a bar, right?"

"Did you hurt your arm?" another inquired.

Kanata huffed a bit. "No," he replied, heading toward the locker room.

"So what is it?" a student asked, running to be in step beside him.

Kanata turned a little red. "It's nothing," he quickly replied.

He headed onto the locker room without any more questions. Rob followed him and the other boys left in the small area. He was also a little confused. How could someone that could play basketball just fine, and pretty well at that, not be able to do a pull-up? Maybe there was some sort of restriction of some sort, but Rob was not sure what it would be without an injury.

Rob shrugged as he spun the dial on his locker. It probably did not even matter, anyway.

* * *

The ending bell ran for Science class. Rob stood up, but was not going to leave the Science classroom just yet. He, Jamal and Kanata had volunteered to yesterday help with the teacher, Mr. Drew, moving some books to another room after class today, and so they were the last students in the classroom.

Rob was slightly surprised now that Kanata had volunteered, due to what he had happened during gym class, but apparently lifting books had nothing to do with pull-ups.

The Science teacher smiled some at them. "Right, so you three can help with the books that I had placed on the third shelf in the closet," he said.

"Sounds good," Jamal answered.

Rob and Kanata nodded, and they all went to the closet. The teacher pulled the door open. Rob saw various supplies in the closet, including one for different projects that the teacher had showed them before in the class, as well as the huge pile of Science books neatly stacked on one of the shelves.

Mr. Drew clapped and smiled. "Well, so those are it, and ready to be given out to other schools," he said.

Jamal was looking questioningly at the number of Science textbooks there. "Why are there so many?" he asked as they started to pull them out and put them on the desks near the back of the room.

Mr. Drew shrugged as he went to close the closet door. "Well," he replied as he came back to the desks, "I had put an order for more Science books a few years ago, and somehow, had ended up with way too many." He folded his arms and grinned some. "Most of them never got used, so they just sat there for a good while."

He unfolded his arms. "Right, now onto room three-fourteen."

Rob picked part of a stack of books, and saw Jamal and Kanata do the same. He noticed that like with the books in the closet, Kanata's grip was a little odd. Instead of with his hands palm down like Rob's were, they were sideways, with his fingers bent some to carry the books. He seemed to be able to carry them just fine, though, and loaded just about as many books as him and Jamal. Mr. Drew carried even more, taking about a third more than the trio of students did.

They finished with the many books about half an hour later, after loading them into various crates on some tables in the unused classroom. Rob noticed that there were even more crates with more books stacked onto the tables.  
Mr. Drew smiled some and swung his arms back and forth. He then went to the closet and pulled out a single piece of paper. Rob watched as he wrote a small description of the books they had brought, and placed the paper on top of the contents in one of the crates.

The teacher then nodded, looking satisfied. He turned around.

"Well, thank you very much," he said to them.

"No problem," Jamal replied friendlily.

Mr. Drew then took out a small book out of his front pocket and looked inside it. Snapping it shut, he replaced it in the pocket and looked at the clock on the wall.

"I've got a meeting in twenty minutes, so I've got to go," he said amiably. "I'm sure that you all can find your way out of here just fine."

Rob and Jamal nodded. The teacher left quickly, leaving the three students there.

Kanata turned to Rob and Jamal. "Do you know where the Orchestra room is, or whatever it would be called here?" he asked. "Maybe it's even the Band room, or just the Music room."

Rob was not sure, but Jamal nodded. "Yeah, it's right near the office," the dark-skinned boy replied. "It's in the same hallway. I don't know the exact number, but it's got a piano near the front door, and a bunch of blue lockers in the back of the room."

Kanata smiled some. "Hey, thanks," he responded.

"Are you in the Orchestra?" Jamal asked.

Kanata's small grin instantly disappeared. "No," he responded, a bit sadly. He then shrugged. "I just wanted to ask someone something that might be in there."

"Okay, then," Jamal said, also shrugging. "Good luck with that. Would you want Rob and me to show you how to get there?"

"No, I'm fine," Kanata replied. "Thanks, anyway."

Rob frowned some as the Japanese boy quickly left the room. For whatever reason, Kanata had looked kind of nervous. What would be so scary about an Orchestra room? Unfortunately, Kanata had already left, though.

Jamal turned to him. "So, are you staying the computer lab again?"

Rob nodded. "Yeah," he replied. "I guess you don't have tutoring today?"

"Nope, and not even for the next two weeks. The guy I was helping is out sick for a while."

Rob made a face. "That too bad," he replied.

"Yeah, but it's nothing took serious. Just some flu thing that isn't going to get better real quick."

Rob followed Jamal out the doorway. "I'm glad that I don't have that," he stated.

Jamal nodded as he closed the door. "Yeah, no kidding."

They then went their separate ways after getting their things from their lockers. Rob walked the hallways toward the computer lab. As he turned the final corner, his right foot skidded on a piece of paper.

Huffing a little that someone would just leave trash on the floor where people would slide on it, Rob bent down to pick paper up. He was surprised that instead of looking like some class notes, the lined piece of paper had wording arranged in small increments, like a poem.

Curious, Rob looked at the words.

_I see my arms  
__With two small mountains  
__With them, I can play  
__My violin  
__I love the melodies and harmonies  
__Enchanting, ferocious, mysterious  
__Floating through my ears  
__And taking me to mystical lands  
__Where I do not have to worry  
__That I am not good enough  
__To play with others  
__Who are "normal"_

_What is "normal"?  
__For this, it is others that are not  
__Handicapped  
__And can play their instruments  
__The usual way_

_People have looked at me  
__And said,  
Why don't you play the cello?  
__I don't want to  
__My heart is with my violin  
__It's sweet tones fill my soul_

_But I am not welcome  
__With my violin  
__Past the Orchestra room doors  
__To join in the musical haven  
__ The one that would decide, says,  
__The mountains on my arms  
__Are too large  
__For me to even fit in the doorway_

_I do not want to accept it  
__I see no real reason for me to stay away  
__But I can only watch  
__And dream that I, too,  
__Can soar with the music  
__Among the timbres of each instrument_

_Maybe one day._

Rob reread the poem in surprise. He could feel the person's anguish at not being able to be in Orchestra. He wondered who had written the poem. It kind of seemed like something that would not be some random thing that someone had written for an English class. It was a bit too odd, in a way.

How could there be "mountains" on anyone's arms? Rob was not sure what that meant, or if the poet had even meant something that was tangible.

Rob frowned as he thought of the part of the person not being allowed in the Orchestra due to some handicap. Maybe that was what the "mountains" were referring to.

There was definitely no way that he wanted to put the piece of paper in the trash now. Rob opened up his backpack and slid the poem into his Science binder, which was on top. He then went to the computer lab to write.

* * *

Rob typed a message on the teletypewriter in his family's kitchen. He had been finally allowed to talk to his older brother Jason again, who attended a school for the deaf all the way in Washington D.C.

_How many times has Jiyo accidentally gotten in the secret passage behind in the closet near that recreation area? _Rob wrote.

He grinned some as he remembered Jiyo, who was Jason's "student", an eight-year-old kid that new to the school. Jason was part of a program that allowed older students that had been there for a while to help younger kids adjust to being away from home. Unfortunately for both Jason and Jiyo, the younger kid was rather prone to strange and unusual happenings, many even occurring without Jiyo even trying.

Rob watched as his brother wrote a response. _Three times, _Jason replied. _I could see him through the little windows on the floor below it. I eventually got him out by finding another door in the storage room with the musical instruments, since someone had locked the other one and couldn't find the key. This entrance was actually a small panel. The tunnel in front of it got bigger after a few feet, though._

_ That's good,_ Rob typed. _Did he get in the same way as he did the last time that he was in there?_

_ Actually, no. Jiyo said that he was just walking in the room with the extra ladders, since he had volunteered to get some extra paper during one of his classes, and then the floor suddenly wasn't there and then he fell into another hole. Apparently there are also multiple entrances to that passage, and no one that was told about the incident said that they had known about either before Jiyo found them._

_ That's just crazy, _Rob responded.

He could nearly see his brother grinning as his read his next message._ Yeah, no kidding. That's four secret passages in the school that he found now, with two different entrances, and all of them were by accident._

Rob quickly typed a response. _I want to go in them with you and Jiyo._

_ Well, if you ever visit here again, maybe we can go on a tour. We would have to bring flashlights. A little light from tiny windows really doesn't light up the whole place too well. I keep on telling Jiyo that he should carry around a little backpack with one in it, but he's not really too interested in the idea. Maybe it's since he doesn't really want to carry a backpack all of the time, and a flashlight doesn't fit into a pocket very well._

Rob frowned a little bit. Poor Jiyo should at least have something with him if he kept on accidentally getting into dark secret passages, or just other random dark places. Finding an exit could be a whole lot easier with some source of light.

_Maybe he could carry a few other things in the backpack,_ he typed. _It could be like an emergency kit, or even an exploring kit._

_ I like the exploring kit idea, _Jason responded. _Maybe he'll go for that. I hope that he wouldn't land on it at some point. That would hurt._

Rob nodded. _Yeah, definitely. _

He thought again about the musical instrument storage room that Jason had discovered the second entrance in. There were a few deaf students at Jason's school that played some sort of instrument, even though they could not hear. Jason had told him one time about a xylophone player that could use four mallets at the same time.

_ Are there any other new people that play any instruments?_ Rob asked.

_One. They play the drums._

_ Do they play them really fast?_ Rob typed.

_ Yeah, I watched them play a small demo yesterday,_ Jason wrote back. _They did that really fast roll that drummers can do._

Rob smiled. _That's cool, _he replied.

They chatted some more about the drummer, as well as a solo concert that Jason had attended that included the xylophone player. He had enjoyed it, even though like the other deaf students that had also watched it, and the musician himself, could not hear the music.

Rob thought about the poem that he had found. If it was not fictional, then there was a student that had been denied being in the Orchestra just due his disability. They were even someone that could actually hear the music.

It was definitely different at Jason's school. Deaf students that were also musicians were allowed to not only play their instruments, but perform them with hearing people on occasion. Of course, the deaf person really had to be careful, but the hearing groups that they had played with had been small. Maybe that was why they were more considerate.

The deaf people, though, were allowed to practice and perform in the first place. There was even a music theory course that was taught there. Jason had written in several letters before that he had taken that class and seemed to at least sort of understand it, even though he would never know what the notes sounded like.

Rob frowned. Why were the deaf musicians accepted as they were, and the poor handicapped person with the "mountains" on their arms not even allowed through the doorway?

It just seemed so unfair for the person, who also clearly loved playing their instrument, to not even be given a chance. Maybe even if they could not play as fast as usual people, and that was a part of the reason why they had not been accepted.

Rob put his fingers to the small keyboard again and told Jason about the mysterious poet. His brother typed a reply.

_Maybe if you can find out who they are, you could talk to someone that could help, like a teacher or even the principal at your school, _Jason wrote.

Rob shrugged. _Maybe, _he responded. _I hope that works. _

_Yeah, me too._

They talked some more about the mystery poet and some other things. About a half an hour later, Rob replaced the receiver back onto the telephone and turned the teletypewriter off. He then went to his room, and took the poem from his binder and put it on the desk. He sure hoped that he could find the handicapped musician.

He then went to his room, and took the poem from his binder and put it on the desk. He sure hoped that he could find the handicapped musician.

* * *

"So where did you say the Orchestra room was?" he asked Jamal after Science class the next day.

Jamal told him, then asked a question. "Why do you want to go there?" he asked, looking a little confused. "Do you want to learn how to play an instrument?"

Rob shook his head. "Nah, I just want to check something out," he responded.

"Do you need help with it?" Jamal asked as they headed toward the door.

"No, I'm fine," he replied.

They soon came to their lockers that happened to be in the same hallway. After getting his things, from his locker, including his skateboard, Rob headed onto the Orchestra room. Jamal had said to Kanata yesterday that the room was actually used both for Band and Orchestra, and so it could be called by either name.

He had no clue how to find the handicapped violinist, but they might be in the Orchestra room or somewhere near it. Maybe even someone there might know them or at least something about them.

Rob came to the correct hallway, and looked at the number plates until he came to number four-twelve. To his relief, the light was on in the room.

Rob peered through the window in the door, and saw the piano that Jamal had mentioned, as well as what looked like three eighth grade students holding wooden string instruments. One girl was playing a violin; a boy had their violin- though Rob was frowning a little bit, since it looked larger than the other violin- on their lap and was twisting something on one end of their bow. A cellist, the other male, held the top of their instrument as they chatted with the boy that was now putting their violin on their shoulder.

Rob knocked on the door. All three students turned toward the door. The female violinist said something, while the male one shrugged. She laid her instrument and her bow on her chair, then went to the door and opened it.

"Yeah?" she asked friendlily.

"Would you happen to know anything about a handicapped violinist that goes to this school?" Rob asked.

To his disappointment, the girl shook her head. "Sorry, I don't know who that is," she responded. "Do you know of a name, or what type of handicap?"

"No, I just know that they play violin different than it's usually played somehow, and they want to be in the Orchestra," Rob replied.

The girl's eyes widened slightly. "Wow, that's interesting," she commented. "I'd like to see how they play. Maybe the guys know something."

She waved for the two boys to come to the door. They did so, after setting down their own instruments and bows, with cellist gently putting his on the floor. The girl relayed Rob's request. Unfortunately, neither boy knew if the handicapped musician, but said that if they learned more about him, they would send a note by a student aide they knew to find him after his last class.

Rob then remembered a line from the poem, where the person had mentioned watching an Orchestra. "Are any of you in Orchestra?" he asked.

All three of the older students nodded. "Yeah, we all are," the cellist replied. "We're just practicing for a competition that's coming up."

Rob smiled some. "So do you know anyone that likes to look through the door window during Orchestra?" he asked hopefully.

The girl shrugged. "I've seen a few students looking through the doors before, but I don't know if they would be who you're looking for," she said. "Some people do. I guess since it's different from other classes. Most people are actually more interested in the Band, though, from what I've heard."

Rob looked at the other two musicians, who also gave a negative. He thanked them, and closed the door. He sighed. How was he supposed even find the mysterious violinist? He had found the poem in the hallway, so it seemed like it would be someone from Hurston. Maybe even no one in the Orchestra knew them, but that did not mean that he could not find whoever it was. There had to be another way to find them.

He then heard the faint sound of music coming from the other side of the door. Curious, he peeked through the window again for a few seconds. All three people were playing now.

Rob then focused on the cellist. They played their large instrument fluidly, their bow moving back and forth across the long strings. They then launched into some fast part, with their fingers moving rapidly on the fingerboard.

He wondered why the mysterious poet had written that others had asked why he did not play the cello. How could a violinist, even one that was handicapped, seem to be able to play a cello better than a violin? It seemed to him that anyone could play whichever instrument they wanted.

Unless . . .

He squinted at the three musicians again. Unless the handicapped violinist, for whatever reason, could not lift their arms as high as was needed for to play the violin? Maybe that could be it, though he was not sure how a violin could be played other than on a shoulder. Somehow the poet had it figured out, though. Maybe they even played on their shoulder, but with holding the violin lower than usual.

Rob sighed and walked toward the computer lab. At least the violinist could play in the first place.

* * *

"All right!" Mr. Jean shouted to the gym class after they had run the usual laps around the gym. "We're going to do push-ups now- the boys doing the usual type, and the girls doing theirs."

Rob heard several people groan, but the teacher continued anyway. "Now move it and get into different places on the floor, and not too close, or I'll be moving you somewhere else."

Rob walked among several people toward the left side of the gym, where he usually was when the class did solo things like this.

"Are you sure you can do push-ups if you can't do the pull-up bar?" someone asked from nearby.

Rob turned to his right to see a tall blonde boy looking at Kanata. "Yeah, I can do push-ups," the Japanese boy responded a bit testily.

"Okay, then," the blonde replied, dubiously raising his eyebrows.

Kanata just huffed and eventually just sat down on the gym floor a few people away from Rob. After the whistle blew and the gym teacher gave the command to start, he curiously glanced over in Kanata's direction, but the black-haired boy seemed to be having no less trouble pushing his own body weight than the others around him. Apparently, whatever reason for him not being able to use the pull-up bar had nothing to do with the strength required for push-ups, or maybe even the excuse was for that day only.

After long minutes of increasing amounts of straining, Rob heard the whistle blew again. He gratefully pushed himself to a sitting position. Glancing toward Kanata, he saw that the Asian boy looked no worse than most of the class. Apparently he had been correct after all when he had said that he could do push-ups.

Later, Mr. Jean announced that they could either play basketball or dodgeball for the rest of the class. The majority chose the latter, and so the teacher got out several soft blue balls from the storage room near one of the exits.

Rob ended up on Kanata's team again, as well as Alex's, this time. He was soon ducking as the other team through their balls hard and fast. Kanata even caught one that had been thrown in a soaring arc, with his arms raised high in the air. A red-headed boy frowned from across the room as he headed toward one of the walls with the other people out.

After about a quarter of an hour, the other team won again, long after Rob had been whopped by another fast ball he had not seen coming. Alex and Kanata had been among the last out, both being clipped by a ball on their hands that they had attempted to catch before it bounced to the floor.

Later, Rob changed back into his school clothes and went onto his next class. Nearby him, Kanata was talking with Rayco and another boy. Alex soon caught up to Rob.

"Did you see that ball I threw almost all the way across the gym and it got two people out?" the Latino boy asked excitedly.

Rob nodded a bit. "Yeah, I saw it," he responded.

Alex grinned. "Yeah, it was so cool. I mean that thing practically flew across the gym, and the got one person and then someone else tried to get it, but then they dropped it, so _they_ were also out. Pretty cool, right?"

Rob nodded again. "It helped our team win that round," he replied.

He and Alex soon separated, and he followed Kanata to their next class.

* * *

For the next week, the only people in the Orchestra room were the trio that he had seen for the first few days, who still had not found anything else about the mysterious violinist. Rob had asked about the Orchestra teacher, but had not been able to find him. He hoped that either the teacher or someone else that knew about him might be in the room at some point.

After stopping by his locker and talking to Jamal and one of his other friends, Lenni, about meeting with the rest of the team, he went in his usual route to the Orchestra room.

To his surprise, he could hear the faint sound of a single violin. Curious, Rob peeked through the small door window. Someone with black hair was sitting a chair, partially facing away from the door. He could see that the person's violin was upright in between their legs, with their right arm moving a bow back and forth, across the strings. Their left hand moved up and down, doing vibrato every so often.

Rob then gasped. This was possibly the mysterious musician, right in the room in front of him. How could he be so lucky? Rob wondered why they were playing in the Orchestra room, but maybe they had permission, even though they could not be in the Orchestra. He was not sure about any "mountains" on the player's arms, though. Maybe they were even covered by their long sleeves.

He watched, intrigued. It was clear now how people could think that the person should play the cello. It was like the violin itself was a miniature of the larger instrument, except that the lower part was not attached to a peg that went to the floor.

Rob then opened the door. Instantly, the music stopped. The person turned around, still holding their bow in their right hand. Rob was utterly surprised when he saw who the musician was.

"Kanata?" Rob said, stunned.

The Japanese boy nodded. "Yeah," he replied, looking a bit anxious as he put his bow on the music stand. "If you need to do something in here, I could leave-"

"No, you don't need to go," Rob quickly responded, walking toward him. "I was actually looking for you, really." He frowned some. "At least, I think it's you."

Kanata blinked a bit as he lowered his right hand. "Okay, then." He put his violin on his lap. "Does a teacher need me or something?"

"No, it's nothing like that." Rob started to take off his backpack. "I think I have something of yours."

He was glad now that he had thought to bring the poem written by the handicapped violinist with him to school, as he had been doing for the past week. Robs put his pack on the floor and took out the folder he had placed it in, then handed the piece of paper to Kanata.

The Japanese boy took the lined page, looking rather mystified. He then looked at the words, and his eyes widened in recognition.

"Yeah, it's mine," he said, lowering the paper. "Where'd you find it?"

"In the hallway," Rob responded. He was so glad that he had been correct about the writer of the poem, after all. "I really liked the poem. It really told how you feel about you liking to play violin."

"Thanks," Kanata responded, putting the poem behind his bow on the music stand in front of him. He then frowned a bit. "I don't plan on being a poet or anything like that," he added.

Rob nodded. "I can understand that," he said.

Even though his father had said that he was good at being an athlete, Rob really wanted to write. Kanata also apparently did fairly well in sports and had at least some writing talent, though obviously he truly wanted to play music instead . . . And he could not do that during school without being in Orchestra.

He was a little confused about something else, though. "How come you asked Jamal and I where the Orchestra room was, if you were already watching them?" he asked. "Did you forget where it was?"

Kanata shook his head. "No, I heard that someone was working on fixing some of the lockers during third period when the Orchestra has class. The Orchestra was playing on the stage then, but now they're back in this room again."

Rob nodded. "I guess that makes sense." He then glanced at the poem, still on the music stand. "So it's true, then?" he asked, concerned. "You're actually not allowed in the Orchestra?"

The Japanese boy nodded. "I mean, I just don't play like others do, really."

"Why not? Is it something about those . . . mountains you mentioned in your poem? What do they mean, anyway?"

Kanata sighed some as he rolled up both of his sleeves. "Those," he said, pointing to both of his elbows.

"Huh?" Rob squinted at Kanata's arms, but could not see anything strikingly unusual.

"Like this," Kanata responded. "See?"

He straightened his left arm and pointed with his right hand to what seemed to be his elbow, except that as Rob looked closer, it was not quite in the correct place. Surprisingly, the spot had stayed a small lump even after his arm was straight. Rob blinked. It was like Kanata had two elbows, in a way.

Kanata straightened his arm. "It's like that on my right arm, too," he said.

Rob stared a bit as the Japanese boy demonstrated the same thing with his other arm. He sure had not noticed the extra lumps, even with the semi-uniform change-out clothes for gym class. It had been slightly cooler outside lately, so he had not even had a chance to notice the "mountains" during the rest of school, since they had been always covered with long sleeves.

Kanata straightened his left arm again. "So there are usually two bones that go through your arm, and they're usually straight," he explained, using his right pointer finger again to help show what he meant. "Except in my arms, one goes straight, while the other one goes like that," he said, while drawing a small line on his arm from his forearm to the small lump.

He then did the same thing with his left hand and right arm. Kanata then rolled down his sleeves and lowered his arms.

Rob stared a bit. "Why are your arms like that?" he finally asked.

Kanata shrugged. "It's just a birth defect," he responded. "Kanata shrugged. "It's just a birth defect," he responded. "Both of my elbows were out of joint from birth, and it just never got noticed in time to be fixed. So you really don't have to worry about it being cancer or anything like that, and no, it's not contagious."

"Did other people think that?" Rob asked, frowning a little bit.

The Japanese boy nodded. "Yeah, people can get some pretty crazy ideas, even if they know the truth about something. Most people don't notice, anyway."

"Yeah, I guess," Rob said.

"There's actually some medical term for it, but I don't remember what it is."

"Wow," Rob replied. "So it is kind of common, or maybe not?"

Kanata shrugged again. "The doctor that I went to after it was discovered had said that he knew about it, but had only seen one person with it before, and that was on their right arm." He sighed. "If I had just that, then I would never have had any problem with playing violin in the first place."

Rob frowned. "How is it that you can't play violin on your shoulder?"

"I can't turn my hands all the way around," Kanata responded, straightening out both of his arms this time.

Rob watched as the Japanese boy then turned his arms around slightly, but not so that his palms were flat. They were somewhat crooked, with the part of his hands near the thumb more up in the air.

"See?" Kanata said. "I just can't turn them all the way. I'm sure that you could turn yours around so that yours are actually palm up."

Rob did so, and then looked at Kanata's crooked hands again. He nodded as he lowered his arms, and Kanata did the same.

Rob thought back to gym class. "So that's why you can't use a pull-up bar," he realized.

Kanata nodded. "Yeah, I just can't turn my hands the right way to be able to do the pull-ups correctly, and it's why I can't play violin like people usually do. In order to play a violin on your left shoulder, you need to be able to turn your left hand all the way around," he explained.

Rob nodded, beginning to understand Kanata's problem. "That's the hand that you play with on the fingerboard," he said.

"Right," Kanata replied. "I just can't get either of my hands all of the way around. I can show you, even though I don't have a chin or shoulder rest."

He lifted up his violin onto his left shoulder, and curved the fingers on his left hand slightly. Rob saw that even though Kanata seemed to be straining his hand to move, he could not move it to a position that his fingers were in a position to even be able to play.

Rob then frowned as the Japanese boy lowered his violin to his lap again. "Wait, you said 'either of your hands.' Does that mean that people can actually play on their right shoulder?"

Kanata nodded. "Yeah, if they can turn their right hand just fine, have their strings switched around, and have a chin rest that goes with their right side instead of their left, " he replied.

He sighed. "I actually saw someone professional violinist in a concert once," he said. "This was after I had started playing violin. I didn't get to talk to him, but he played violin concert all by himself. Part of it was a comical theme. He was moving around, playing on his left shoulder, then on his right one, and even like a cello, like I do, except that they were standing on one leg and just lifted up the other."

Rob grinned as he could picture the violinist slightly. "That must have been pretty neat to see him play like you do," he commented.

Kanata shrugged. "Sort of. He didn't use a chair. Also, he was just being funny. He doesn't have to play his violin like that all the time." He frowned. "One problem that the Orchestra conductor has with me playing in the Orchestra is that I just can't move around like usual violinists can, and they were going to be playing a song that had the violinists and violists moving around."

"But you still like playing, right?" Rob asked. "It said something like that in your poem."

The Japanese boy smiled some as he nodded. "Yeah, I really like playing violin."

Rob frowned. "So maybe you could just sit that song out, or work out something else. So what really is the Orchestra conductor's problem?"

Kanata mirrored Rob's frown as he slumped a bit. "It's the way I play," he replied. "I _don't_ play like violinists usually do. According to the conductor, that can cause a lot of problems." He scowled slightly. "Not only might it look really weird to an audience watching an Orchestra performance, but I also need more room to play. My bowing area takes up more space, since it goes left to right like a cello, instead of the usual higher area like a violin bow usually does. Violin bows are longer than ones for cellos."

"But the conductor can adjust for that, right?" Rob asked.

Kanata shrugged again. "Maybe he just doesn't want to. It just wouldn't look professional. Put me a concert with the rest of the Orchestra, and you can instantly tell that someone is handicapped in it."

Rob stared at the Japanese boy in disbelief, scarcely able to believe that someone could be so discriminating. He could understand somewhat, due to people having teased Jason for being deaf a lot, and Rob for being his brother. This, though, was a problem he had never even thought of. It was still being prejudiced against someone that was disabled, though.

He frowned some. The small lumps on Kanata's arms were really huge mountains, in a way.

"But why would it really matter?" Rob asked finally. "This is just middle school, right?"

"Have you even heard the Orchestra here play?" Kanata asked him seriously.

Rob shook his head. Watching an Orchestra concert at Hurston had never occurred to him, and no one had ever even invited him to one. None of his friends played any string instruments.

Kanata smiled a bit again. "They're really good. My mom has said before that she's seen general middle school Orchestras before, and you can usually tell that they're still in middle school, with some squeaking noises." He sighed. "But the Orchestra here is way better than that. I haven't heard other middle school Orchestras play, but this one definitely doesn't sound like what my mom described. They really know what they're doing.

"Also, according to the conductor, one of the real problems is that with the way that I play violin, the music just won't soar like the sound from violins usually does. I'm not really sure, but I guess that with the sound coming from a sideways violin and lower than it is supposed to be played, the sound just doesn't resonate well enough."

Rob was now just confused. "They already have a whole Orchestra, right? So what harm would there be in putting you in it, even if your violin doesn't get as much sound or something?"

Kanata sighed heavily. "Look, put all of the problems together, and you get an obviously disabled violist that takes up a lot of room, and whose violin's sound just doesn't match what violins should sound like. My parents had warned me that I might have trouble getting into Orchestra here, and they were right."

Rob stared at the Japanese boy's face, definitely shadowed with sorrow. "Were you in Orchestra in your old school?" he asked.

Kanata shook his head. "No, where I had lived before, the middle school and elementary school didn't even have one. I thought I might finally have a chance here, but . . ." -he shrugged helplessly- "I guess not."

"That's just not right," Rob said, frowning some.

Kanata shrugged again. "It's just how it is," he responded, though his saddened face betrayed his feelings. "I can't play like other violinists do."

Rob remembered about Jason's school, and told the Japanese boy about the deaf musicians. He got a small smile from Kanata, but he did not really look too happy.

"It's neat, but they're used to people being deaf there, since it's a deaf school," Kanata replied. "I'm the only one with my problem here." He then smiled a little bit. "I guess it would be neat to see them play, though. I never even thought that deaf people could play instruments, since they can't hear the music."

Rob grinned. "Yeah, I know what you mean. It's really amazing that they can."

Kanata nodded, then turned around looked at the large analog clock on the wall near the piano. "I want to practice some more," he said, picking up his violin by the neck with his left hand again. "I've only got about fifteen more minutes until I have to leave."

"Okay," Rob replied. He looked from Kanata's melancholy expression to the violin on his lap. "Hey, I think you play really well, and that you should be in Orchestra."

Kanata shrugged again, though there was another small smile on his face. "Thanks," he replied softly.

Before Rob had even left the room, he heard the sound of a violin again. He turned around to see Kanata intently looking at his music, with his fingers flying over the fingerboard, and his bow moving smoothly. There were no squeaking sounds there, either.

He was frowning as he closed the door, shutting out most of the sound. Maybe it was time that he actually called a rally again- or ask Jamal to. Maybe even Ghostwriter, the ghost that only he and his friends could see, could help with this. They had helped each other before when they needed it, and liked to help others, too. They could even ask the principal, like Jason had suggested.

Rob frowned again as he headed down the hallway to the computer lab. He sure wanted to help Kanata somehow.


End file.
